Italian style eggplant & pepper salad

Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients:

1 lg Eggplant 1/4 c Olive oil
2 lg Bell peppers red or green 1/4 c Red wine vinegar
2 lg Celery stalks 1 ts Oregano Olive oil for sauteeing Salt & pepper
2 ea Garlic cloves

Instructions:

minced 1/4 c Black olives chopped Preheat oven to 400F. Place whole eggplant unpeeled on a rack in oven. Wrap the two peppers & celery stalks individually in aluminum foil & place them on rack as well. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove peppers & celery & let cool. Bake eggplant for another 15 minutes. It should be very tender & have collapsed. When vegetables are cool enough to handle peel eggplant cut into several pieces & drain in a colnder for 20 minutes. Squeeze out some of the excess moisture. Chop peppers removing stems & seeds. Leave in large pieces. Chop celery into 1/2" pieces. Dice eggplant & combnie with peppers & celery in a large bowl. Heat a few drops of olive oil in a skillet & saute the garlic till golden. Add to hte bowl. Add remaining ingredients & mix thoroughly. Cover & let stand for 1 hour at room temperature before serving. Nava Atlas Vegetariana